Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 368 "Iron-Blooded Knight" Lindsay Louis (Thanks to reader 2024…BE for the reading coins)
Upon hearing Roger's question, "The Hermit" Cattleya answered:
"Normally, because the process of 'knowledge coming from person to person' is too painful, most 'secret seekers' would not do such a thing, but as far as I know, there are such cases."

"This situation can be divided into two types. One is that some people are obsessed with certain aspects of mystical knowledge and are very eager to learn about them. The other is that some 'mystery seekers' are transformed and deeply corrupted by the 'hidden sages' for certain reasons, and then they will actively ask the 'hidden sages' for knowledge."

"But in either case, the outcome won't be good."

"Although the 'Hidden Sage' is not usually considered to be hostile to his followers, in many cases he will instill confusing or very dangerous knowledge in them."

"If His followers accept this knowledge without discernment and believe it to be true, it could lead to contamination, loss of control and mutation... As for those who have already been contaminated, they will either exhibit obvious behavioral abnormalities and personality changes, or they will lose control at some point."

“I have seen several such cases, but they all occurred within the ‘Morse’s Penitentiary.’ I have never heard of any such cases outside of this organization.”

"I see."

Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," nodded:
“Last year, I knew an Extraordinary who was on the ‘Spy’ path and almost became the first type of person you mentioned. Fortunately, I reminded him in time, so he didn’t lose control. He is currently under the close surveillance of the official Extraordinary, which is why there has been no problem.”

He was naturally referring to old Neil. These words caused Klein's heart to stir slightly, and he subtly raised his eyes to look at Roger.

"I wonder how old Neil is doing now?"

Klein sighed slightly. His last meeting with Dunn and the others was too rushed, and because of his status, he didn't have the chance to ask about Old Neil's details.

"Or should I find a chance to go back to Tingen and see him?"

As he was pondering this, he heard Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," continue speaking:
“I’m all set for now, thank you, Ms. ‘Hermit’.”

Roger then turned to Emlyn, "The Moon," and asked:
"Mr. Moon, do you have any medicine that can improve sleep? The kind that even extraordinary people can use."

"Have."

Emlyn, the "Moon," nodded, then asked Roger for some specific details before speaking:

"A dose of this medicine costs 5 pounds. It guarantees that you'll fall asleep instantly after drinking it, and you won't wake up until you've slept for at least 8 hours."

"As for safety, you don't need to worry. This is not an anesthetic; it only improves the state of the astral body and the spiritual body. If there are any dangerous events at night, you will still be able to wake up as usual."

"I have the relevant materials on hand right now. How much do you need? If all goes well, I can deliver them to you tonight."

It's not expensive...

For a Sequence 6 "Potion Professor," this price is indeed cheap, which also proves that the potion is not very difficult to make.

"I want to try four tubes first to see the effect."

Roger had a clear plan: he would hand the medicine to Master Qiu on Wednesday, and then check on Sunday to see if the other party's fatigue had improved. Then he could decide whether to adjust his strategy.

“Okay, no problem, Mr. Wheel of Fortune.”

Although Emlyn was a little disappointed that Roger only wanted four potions, 20 pounds was still money, and Roger was his old customer. Emlyn, who was in urgent need of promotion and improving his strength, was very willing to provide the corresponding service.

“There’s one more thing, Mr. Hanged Man.”

Roger then turned his head toward Alger, the "Hanged Man":

"I need a map of merchant shipping routes along the islands and continents in the Sunia Sea and the Raging Sea, with all the supply points, major cargo categories, and tax rates marked. I can pay you accordingly."

"Please note that I need the latest version... Due to the end of the war, the tariff rates on the various islands at sea have changed to some extent."

Alger, the "Hanged Man," was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. He originally wanted to ask why they didn't seek out the "Hermit" for such a request, but he immediately remembered that the "Hermit" had been living in the "Forsaken Land" since the end of the war, making it inconvenient for her to gather information in this area.

“No problem, Mr. ‘Wheel of Fortune’, it’s nothing, no reward is needed.”

Alger, the "Hanged Man," shook his head. For him, being a member of the Church of the Lord of Storms, knowing this kind of information was just a matter of talking. As for marking the nautical charts, he didn't need to do it himself; the "Azure Avenger" had plenty of professional staff.

"Then I'm sorry to trouble you."

Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," didn't stand on ceremony with Alger. He nodded slightly and spoke.

After exchanging some other things, the "Tarot Meeting" came to an end once again. Roger wrote two letters as soon as he returned to reality, and then summoned the "Rat of De La Hoya".

The first letter was addressed to Archbishop Fla Jenkins of the Church of the Goddess of Night. In it, Roger asked the archbishop to use some of his resources to help protect his family, as he feared that Sam and his companions would be attacked again by the Aurora Society during his absence from Backlund.

The second letter was to Klein, in which Roger told the latter about his recent experiences and inquired about Klein's well-being.

At the end of the letter, Roger invited Klein to meet with him, saying that he had something to discuss with him.

After paying the necessary reward to "The Rat of De La Hoya," Roger breathed a sigh of relief, returned to Worston Gardens, picked up Bendit, and returned to "Midnight City."

After landing in the night-shrouded "Midnight City," Roger found several members of the joint exploration team and asked them for details of the previous battle.

He soon learned that in this battle, the joint exploration team and "New Fog City" had lost nearly 40 extraordinary individuals, and nearly a quarter of them were members of Linsaya's tactical team.

In return for the battle, the members of the joint exploration team killed nearly a thousand monsters of various levels, obtained corresponding loot, and even sealed away a living Sequence 4 creature by the "mysterious queen" Bernadette and Alexis.

Roger then headed toward the city wall, following the information he had received.

He hadn't walked far when he heard sobbing.

It sounded like it came from a woman. Roger's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately walked in that direction.

As he expected, it was indeed the voice of Linssia Louise. At this moment, Linssia was facing a row of human figures covered by white cloth, her eyes were red and lifeless, and she looked like she had experienced great pain.

Beside her, more than thirty tactical squad members remained silent, their eyes red, clearly having just cried.

Not far away, many corpses were being moved together, and extraordinary individuals of certain kinds were performing a requiem ceremony to offer comfort and blessings to the deceased.

Roger sighed softly. He sat down next to Linssaya without moving or speaking, simply keeping her and her teammates company.

The moment he saw Linsaya, he realized that the "Witch of Pain" had completely digested the potion. This must be because many members of the tactical squad had died in the previous wave of monster attacks, causing her great psychological trauma and devastation.

After a long while, Lindsay finally looked up at Roger:
"captain……"

"I understand, I understand."

Seeing the empty look in her eyes, Roger quickly hugged Lindsay, patted the back of her head, and then comforted her:

"Don't cry, be good, we can avenge them."

"revenge?"

Linselia was slightly taken aback:
"Is revenge possible? And against whom?"

She had initially thought it was just an attack launched by the monsters of the "Forsaken Land" in a dazed state, but after hearing Roger's words, she keenly sensed that there seemed to be other hidden stories involved.

Upon hearing Roger's words, many members of Linssaya's tactical squad immediately looked over.

Their eyes all gleamed with a strange light, as if they were anticipating Roger's next words.

"The Aurora Society... or rather, the other two saints of the Aurora Society and their supporters."

Roger pondered for a moment, then looked into the depths of darkness:

"While you were being attacked, I was also attacked in Backlund."

"If I hadn't reacted quickly, I might be dead by now."

"This……"

Linselia was stunned:

"You mean, there's a connection between the two?"

"of course."

Roger shook his head:

"Have you forgotten how 'Fog City' was destroyed?"

Upon hearing this, Linssaya suddenly remembered what Jack had told her about Vinera over the past few days.

"You mean...that one made a move?"

She deliberately lowered her voice when she said this so that the people in the nearby "New Fog City" would not hear her.

"Correct."

Roger nodded slightly:

"Although I don't know whether it was His presence or Vinera's help, I plan to launch a surprise attack on them and kill those two demigods directly."

"Considering that the other party is a Sequence 3 Saint and a Saint who is at least Sequence 4...and because of their own paths, they are both exceptionally difficult to kill."

"On the other hand, we cannot rule out the possibility that they have some kind of special, and inevitably existing, hidden mid-sequence power supporting them. We need at least 3 to 4 Sequence 4 Saints to maximize our chances of winning."

In fact, what Roger didn't say was that although the other party still had a certain special state granted by the "Angel of Fate" Urolius, considering that Amon had most likely already gotten involved in this matter, this state might also reduce the help that "Shadow Saint" Arexos and "Curse Saint" Vinera could receive.

However, in any case, our side must make full preparations to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

"So what I want to ask is, have you fully digested your 'pain' potion?"

Upon hearing Roger's question, Lindsay nodded:
"Yes, I've completely digested this experience."

In the previous battle, Linsaya not only felt the pain herself, but also worked with her team members to inflict intense pain on the invading enemies.

Among them were even divine beings. With the help of Alexis and Jack, Linsaya tortured and killed a divine being that had caused her to lose several teammates in a way that was almost humiliating, and in doing so, she completely digested the remaining parts of the "Pain" potion.

"very good."

Roger nodded with satisfaction, then added:
"How many men are left in your tactical squad? Are they enough to meet the promotion ceremony requirements I mentioned earlier?"

The "Iron Knight" promotion ceremony not only requires the promoted person to have a combat squad of at least 30 members, but also to cultivate a deep camaraderie among them, enabling them to become stronger one after another, cooperate tacitly, understand each other's intentions through eye contact and gestures, and become almost one with one.

Under these conditions, having these people form a ritual can fulfill the requirements for becoming an "Iron Knight".

Previously, under Roger's deliberate arrangement, this tactical squad had gone through many battles and their potion digestion speed was very fast.

Afterwards, he helped many of them advance to higher sequences. At this point, the vast majority of the team had reached Sequence 6 or even higher. Roger even performed a divination to confirm that Linssaya had met the requirements for advancement.

As expected, Linsaya nodded, indicating that her team still had 36 people left and was ready.

"very good."

Roger nodded:

"Once you're ready, bring your team members and come with me. I'll help you concoct potions and advance your promotion."

"Wait a moment, Captain, I'd like to stay here with the crew a little longer."

Linssaya sighed, referring to those who had died.

However, Roger nodded as he was about to speak:

"Okay, let's go together."

About half an hour later, Linsaya finally stood up:
“I’m ready, Captain.”

"it is good."

Roger turned to the 36 team members, who also stood up one after another.

Without needing any further instructions from Linssaya, they already understood what to do and where to go.

Roger nodded slightly, then turned and walked in front, with Lindsay and her 36 teammates following behind.

Their footsteps were perfectly synchronized, even their hand gestures were identical. This scene reminded Roger of the armies he had seen in the past, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

It seems that Linsaya and her team have indeed received significant training in the "Forsaken Land." Even though their overall quality is still not as good as the strongest tactical units in the regular army, they are already much stronger than ordinary troops.

After arriving at a quiet, windless corridor, Roger first had Linssaya give the corresponding orders to her team members according to the requirements of the ceremony and surround her. Then, using the lights that had already been lit in "Midnight City", he set up a crucible and placed various bottles and jars that he had prepared in advance aside.

"20 grams of plant powder contaminated by the Stone of Disaster, 20 grams of soil soaked with soldiers' blood from a large battlefield, and one acorn..."

These are all auxiliary materials for the "Iron Knight" potion. The plant powder contaminated by the Disaster Stone was something Roger had Mr. C find long ago. The soil soaked with soldiers' blood was something Roger collected on the battlefield of the Fussac Empire during the war in the North Continent. As for the acorns, they were bought casually at the market and were not worth mentioning.

"Oh right, we're missing one auxiliary material." Roger slapped his forehead:
"Linsea, give me your soft armor."

He was referring to the sealed artifact, which corresponded to the extraordinary characteristics of the "Iron Knight," and was seized from "Disease General" Tracy.

Linssaya was already prepared. She handed the soft armor to Roger from the backpack behind her. Roger nodded, said "Wait a moment," and then disappeared into "Midnight City" with a blue light flashing around him.

Roger headed straight for the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord".

Here, he began to use the "purification" ability contained in the seal formed by the "Darkness-Free" property he had previously obtained to irradiate the soft armor, thereby causing the extraordinary properties contained within it to be rapidly and gradually extracted from the soft armor.

Roger quickly acquired six different extraordinary traits, but he focused on the highest level of one.

It was a black, sword-shaped object, like an arm bone, heavy and hard, with flames constantly appearing on its surface.

As for other extraordinary characteristics, they come in various forms, including an unusually sharp, white, bone-like object that gleams with a cold, icy light, and an unusually dirty, brain-like object covered in rust and eyes, and so on.

These are the extraordinary properties of sequences 4 through 9 of the "Red Priest" pathway.

Roger split them up to avoid Linssia having to spend time digesting the traits of "Hunter", "Provocateur", "Pyromaniac", "Conspirator" and "Reaper" after her advancement. This would enhance her stability after advancement and help her focus on digesting the Sequence 4 potion itself without being distracted.

Without these extraordinary properties, the soft armor immediately lost its coppery sheen and became much duller than before.

At this moment, it has become an ordinary, useless piece of soft armor.

Roger then adjusted the configuration of the "Heart of the Star Lord" and left the captain's cabin. Relying on his spiritual intuition, he wandered around and soon found a door.

Without hesitation, he opened the door and immediately felt a wave of heat hit him.

This is one of the dangerous doors on the "Star Lord," behind which lies a space filled with lava.

Roger looked at the almost scorching white lava in front of him, used his "Traveler" ability to take some, and then closed the door.

While the lava was still hot, Roger immediately took it and the "Iron Knight's" extraordinary properties back to "Midnight City" and began to concoct the "Iron Knight" potion without stopping.

After adding the various ingredients one by one, Roger finally threw in the black sword-shaped arm bone.

In an instant, the liquid surface turned scorching red and began to emit high temperatures, looking just like molten iron.

Roger quickly poured the potion into a safe enough container and then handed it to Linssaya.

Linsaya looked at the scalding hot potion, swallowed hard, and then, enduring the burning sensation, swallowed it.

Roger, who was not a member of the tactical squad, also consciously withdrew from the ceremony to avoid disturbing Linssaya's ascension ceremony and undermining its mystical significance.

He turned around and found the joint exploration team inside "Midnight City" and began to learn about the specific details of the casualties. About fifteen minutes later, he suddenly heard an explosion rip through the sky.

Roger and his teammates looked up curiously and saw a ball of flame, bright white with a hint of blue, rising from a corner of Midnight City and flying towards them.

The "ball flame" was very fast, but it didn't seem to last long. After a few more seconds, the flame quickly coalesced into the body of an adult and landed about three or four meters in front of Roger.

He was a man who was about 1.85 meters tall and had long red hair.

He appeared handsome and tall, with dark blue eyes that shimmered with a fiery red hue. He exuded an irresistible charm that caused the female exploration team members around Roger to momentarily lose their composure.

"How are you feeling, Lindsay?"

Roger smiled slightly, understanding that Lindsay was testing her newly acquired power.

Yes, the man before him was Lindsay Louis, who had returned to being a man. He had finally emerged from all the sorrow and humiliation and regained the right to decide his own destiny with greater pride and uprightness.

Even though he paid a heavy price and suffered a lot of pain along the way, he has now regained the "courage" to face everything.

Upon hearing the name "Lindsay," the handsome man paused slightly, then suddenly burst into laughter.

That radiant smile, like the midday sun, could give onlookers the illusion that they were being illuminated, even in the dark "forsaken land."

"Yes, I am Lindsay Louise."

Lindsay took a deep breath and then nodded:

"It feels great."

He stretched out his right hand and looked at the powerful lines. After a long while, he began to tell Roger about his newfound abilities.

In addition to the mystical connections between "Courage," "Flame Manipulation," "Flame Transformation," "Iron Transformation," "Weaponization," "Long-Range Bombing," and the "Iron Knight" pathway with his team, Lindsay also gained some fusion abilities of the "Witch" and "Red Priest" pathways, making his power far exceed those of those who advanced to "Iron Knight" through normal means.

“Great, now we have another demigod in our team.”

Roger was quite pleased. He patted Lindsay on the shoulder and told him to familiarize himself with and practice his new ability before walking toward Bandit.

"Come with me."

"what?"

Before Bandit could react, it was enveloped by a ball of blue light and disappeared into "Midnight City".

After the man and the cat left the spirit world, the room where Roger belonged in the "Underground Midnight City" came into Bandit's view.

"What are you doing?"

Bandit was quite puzzled. Just moments before, it had been about to find a place to defecate when Roger grabbed it, leaving it rather frustrated.

"You and I have traveled to so many places lately, how's the 'Traveler' potion going?"

In response to Roger's question, Bendit wagged its tail and replied:
"It's alright, about 70% or 80% has been digested."

The “Forsaken Land” is a place that most “travelers” will never be able to reach in their lifetime. However, Bandit, as a cat, traveled through this dark continent and witnessed many secrets, which played a crucial role in its digestion of the “traveler” potion.

"Do you wish to advance to become a 'Second-Rank 4 Arcane Mage'?"

Roger nodded, then suddenly asked a question that stunned Bandit.

"Me? A cat? A sorcerer?"

"Demi god?"

At this moment, Bandit felt a certain inconsistency in its perception. Originally, it had not expected Roger to make it a demigod—although the latter had always said so—but it still thought that Roger would prioritize making Sam and Cecilia demigods.

Don't look at me like that.

Roger waved his hand:

“I know what you’re thinking. Neither Sam nor Cecilia are as good at digesting potions as you are right now. I desperately need another demigod-level fighter. Although you have mastered some Sequence 4 abilities, you are still not good enough in front of a true demigod.”

"On the other hand, the kitten doesn't need to belittle itself. Who says animals can't be divine beings? You know, many of those ancient gods... and even some mythical creatures today, are not human."

"This……"

Bandit hesitated for a moment, then pressed on with another question:

"But my 'Traveler' potion hasn't been fully digested yet..."

"It's alright, I'll take you somewhere later, and you'll be able to fully digest the 'Traveler' potion once you get there."

Seeing Roger's confident demeanor, Bandit was somewhat suspicious:
"What kind of place is this that's so powerful? Could it be the legendary Western Continent?"

"No, that's not it. The Western Continent is inaccessible right now."

Roger shook his head, then said:

"It's another planet."

"Planet?"

Bandit was about to ask a few more questions when he suddenly turned into the darkness, his back arched, and his ears became like airplane ears:
"what!"

Upon hearing Bandit begin to pant, Roger immediately realized what was happening. He scooped the cat into his arms and watched as the "Rat of De La Hoya" leaped out from the darkness.

"I'm telling you two, don't fight, don't argue."

Roger said somewhat helplessly, "This cat and mouse always seem to have some friction every time they meet, as if they are incompatible from the start."

"Who cares?"

The Rat of De La Hoya's dismissive remarks immediately angered Bandit. Fortunately, Roger managed to restrain Hakimi in time, preventing it from pulling out its meter-long black greatsword and fighting to the death.

"your letter."

The "Rat of De La Hoya" tossed a letter to Roger, then took a nut from his hand, winked at Bandit, and leaped into the darkness without looking back.

"I'll take it down sooner or later!"

Bandit angrily twisted Roger's words.

"Calm down."

Roger was somewhat speechless:

"This is just one of their clones; the higher up, there are demigods."

"What's so great about being a demigod?"

Bandit grinned, seemingly unconcerned:
"I'm going to fight demigods. When are we going to that alien planet?"

Seeing the tabby cat, which had been hesitant just moments before, now full of fighting spirit, Roger put his hand to his forehead, unsure whether to feel happy or nervous.

"Wait a moment, let me finish reading this letter first."

Roger placed Bendit on the ground and then opened the envelope.

The handwriting on the letter looked very familiar to him—it was Klein Moretti's own handwriting.

Roger:
"I am very worried after hearing about your experience. To be honest, I have become a demigod and am currently investigating some matters in the port of Berens in West Baron."

“I’d be happy to help. You can come to Port Berens to find me. If it’s inconvenient for you to come, please let me know and I’ll find a way to get back.”

“Your friend, Klein Moretti.”

At the end of the letter, Klein left an address in Port Behrens.

Roger breathed a sigh of relief; Klein's statement made him feel even more at ease.

In this way, he would have the fighting power of three demigods: himself, Klein, and Lindsay. Right now, all he needed to do was promote Bandit to "Arcanist," and he was confident that he could completely wipe out those two bastards, Arexos and Vinera.

Roger had originally considered bringing Jack or the "mysterious queen" Bernadette along, but he ultimately felt that it was inappropriate and gave up on the idea.

"Let's go now."

To prevent Bandit from breathing on the "De La Hoya Giant Rat," Roger temporarily put it into the "Old Box," and then used the "Traveler's Dice" to travel to the bone desert again, where he found the "De La Hoya Giant Rat" lying there in a daze.

"what's up?"

Upon seeing Roger approach, the giant rat struggled to sit up and asked curiously.

"Five Barnett berries, send me to Butak Planet."

Upon hearing about Barnett berries, the De La Hoya giant rat's eyes immediately lit up:
"no problem."

"Thanks you."

Roger handed five fruits to the enormous half-rat, half-rabbit creature. After much persuasion, the creature finally managed to restrain its appetite and sent Roger to the city-state of the "Blue-skinned" people on the planet Butak.

As soon as Roger landed, he released Bandit. It was the dead of night on Planet Butak, but Roger saw many fires at his feet.

"Is this... another sacrificial ceremony?"

Roger felt something was off, but before he could even greet the "blue-skinned" beings below, the aliens bowed down to him and Bandit once again.

(I recommend a really good alternative chef novel: "Who Made This Heretic Cultivator Cook?". The introduction and link are in the author's notes below; feel free to check it out if you're interested.)
(End of this chapter)